The Descent
by AxJfan
Summary: Sequeal TO THE RISING! With Jaden's death, hope has fluttered out of the lives of all those around him. Jesse and Melody caught in a struggle for their souls, Alexis alone in a world she can't stand, and Nick losing control... will it be too much? AxJ JxM
1. Prologue: Concrete

**(enters very cautiously using Chazz as a sheild)**

**Hehehe... Hi guys!**

**(ducks as a missle is fired over my head)**

**Hey! Save those for Nick buddy!!**

**(Giant mob of sobbing reviewers appear)**

**Uh-oh! I'm outta here!**

**(runs, leaving a tissue box behind)**

**PS: Thanks agian for helping me get my goal of 250 reviews!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN YUGIOH GX OR ANYTHING OTHER PRODUCTS THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE MENTIONED IN FUTURE OR PAST CHAPTERS!! I ONLY OWN THE PLOT AND MY MANY OC'S.**

* * *

**Prologue**

**(Jesse POV)**

My feet pounded mercilessly against the pavement, trying to take out all of my stress on the never withering concrete, but with no luck. Unlike me, it was tough both inside and out, and the shards of sorrow that were piercing into my being could not be passed on through its first layer. All I had accomplished was giving myself physical pain from the other type of soul my body had—the bottom of my feet. My hands twitched slightly in my pockets as to go and rub them, but I kept them where they were, in no mood to try and ease any kind of pain anymore. I had already tried that too many times in too many days without effect to have faith in some kind of tourniquet anymore.

So, I strolled painfully through the city, ignoring the stars above me and facing the tough concrete below me. I had refused to look at the night sky for days now, because I knew that you were among those stars now, and it pained me more than Alexis' own fragile state, the only thing that was left of you. We couldn't even retrieve your duel disk or sword, not with the Overlord's army running ramped through the area. I think that blow stung almost as badly as your absence in all of our lives, the fact that we had nothing concrete—weird how that stone keeps coming back to my mind—to prove you ever really existed; only memories that were now too painful to speak about. I couldn't even help the people that you had left behind; I could find no comforting words to give them, to give to her, that you were in a better place, that we could still bring peace, that Alexis would recover soon...

The facts weren't pointing towards any of these things, but I'll desperately cling onto any small shards of hope and faith I have left, wishing on the unseen stars. I hoped that you were in a better place, but you couldn't be without your Angel. You couldn't be happy separated from her, and without the two of you there would be no one who would end this war, and without you Alexis had no reason to want to recover.

No, there was nothing any person could say to lighten us up other than that you weren't really dead, but you are. I know it, the world seems to have lost your glow to it, and everything has been torn to pieces, and I've even grown envious of a rock. I know that our Guardian is dead, and that the Angel will soon follow, as it should be.

But I wished that it didn't have to be.

Even my normally bright attitude that was so similar to yours couldn't pierce the thick layer of misery that had fallen upon us all, smothering the joy from our beings like a thick blanket in the twisted hands of fate. Perhaps it was those same hands that made you do what you did to save us—but to ultimately doom us in the end as well. Did you know that we needed more time to say things or do things that would have some kind of impact on the fate of the planets? Or were you just delaying the inevitable to give us some kind of hope, or some sense of closure?

My wanderings soon brought me to the drop-off, the point where the whirlpool sometimes appeared, and I saw that someone else was out there with me, but they were boldly staring up at the stars and constellation with no thoughts of you. I found myself glaring at their freedom from the burden of knowledge before I returned to my senses just as they turned their attention back to the swirling waters below. Ashamed, I was about to turn around and walk away, also not in the mood for company, not even hers, but something caught my eye. The person's foot was on the railing.

I turned back around slowly, double-checking to see if my somber thoughts had made me see things, but no, it was true. This person's foot was right on the railing and they were lifting themselves up. I froze, unsure of what to do. Maybe I was over-reacting. People leaned over the railing all of the time to get a better look at the whirlpool. Yeah, that's it; they're just probably trying to see it in the night, hoping to get a last glimpse before they leave town or something.

My head told me something was very wrong with that logic, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was as I watched this person lean closer and closer, bending so they stepped over the metal railing and stood just on the edge. As they leaned, the silver moonlight reflected off their long hair and their slender—too slender—body came into definition. A woman.

Then I knew what was wrong. The whirlpool wasn't due until next week.

She leaned over the edge, and I raced towards her, my arm outstretched, wanting to stop her, whoever she was. The sound of soles against concrete faded and was replaced with the easily breakable and delicate blades of grass, the softer earth slowing my momentum slightly. Her feet were just parting with the fraying blades as I made a grab and came away with a few light strands of hair, unable to see their color in the dark night. I leaned over the railing, still reaching for the woman, and she turned back, opening her arms towards me, her eyes serene.

_"Come with me,"_ she mouthed, opening her arms wider. Suddenly the world seemed to be tipping and I felt myself slowly start to move. I couldn't move any part of my body, fear rooting me firmly to the spot. The railing shook in my hands as my weight seemed to overpower the soft earth and strong metal bonds, and it kept leaning closer and closer to the long drop. I knew by some deep human instinct that it wasn't high enough to kill me, but that same instinct told me that I wouldn't make it out of this alive. _"Come with me, Jesse. Save me."_

She hit the water first, sending the splash up towards me, carried by the wind that was trying to push my body back and defy gravity. Something changed the second the woman hit the water, and I felt myself go rigid before I myself crashed into the surf, only recognizing a flash of silver and pink where the woman's legs should have been. The freezing temperatures and the impact knocked my breath clean out of my lungs, and I floated there briefly, dazed.

_"Only you can save me..."_

I felt her hands lace on my shoulders and looked up, alarmed, into her red eyes, kicking in every direction now to try and resurface for air. Her hold tightened, and I felt my body slowing, my lungs screaming for oxygen and my muscles starved of their power. Slowly, I felt spasms shack up and down my form, staring blankly at the light of the moon above me, the world where she was waiting for me to come back, where she was already so broken...

_I'm so sorry Melody..._

**_ALRIGHT, NOW YOU ALL ARE GOING TO BE MAD, CUZ I'M GOING TO UPDATE ALL OF MY OTHER STORIES BEFORE I UPDATE THIS CLIFF-HANGER AGAIN! _**

**_SORRY AND PLEASE REVIEW! LET'S SEE IF WE CAN GET PAST THE 254 REVIEWS OF THE RISING!_**

**_(SHOUTS EXCITEDLY AND DODGES THROWN OBJECTS)_**

**THE LUCKY STORY TO UPDATE IS FIRST GOING TO BE MAXIMUM RIDE: A NEW BEGINNING.**

**NEXT UP IS GOLDEN EYES!!**

**AND FINALLY, WITHOUT YOU!!**

**THANKS FOR READING!**

**AxJfan**


	2. Stream of Unconsciousness

**OOPS! Looks like another really long chapter from me! Sorry guys, hope none of your eyes gets fried like mine! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh Gx. Duh.**

**This chapter is a little bit confusing because it changes times a bit, so make sure you pay attention to my carefully noted time-shifts! K? Thank you for reading and I'm so sorry you had to wait this long for it!**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**(Unknown POV)**

I walked along the beachside, wandering aimlessly through the familiar and yet completely alien world, sand crunching between my toes and pushing back my dyed hair, really noticing for the first time how straight it was.

The water splashed aimlessly at my right side, its whispers calling to me, its alluring words beckoning for me to return to the force that brought me life. Smirking wanly at the voice, I dug my toes into the warm sand, wiggling the eroded stone between them. I dominated them; they were ruled by my ocean, just as everything else was.

I threw my head back in the moonlight, bathing myself in its melancholy silver glow. I remained there for a good portion of the night, listening to all of the sounds that I ruled, when I heard a disturbance in the waves. My head turned to the side and I glared at whoever dared to approach me.

A man appeared out of the water and went to my side, bowing and holding out a strange machine with his webbed hands. I took it with no word of thanks, snapping it onto my arm and putting my carefully rearranged deck in its rightful place.

"I trust that you shall not let slip of my whereabouts?"

"Yes, my Queen," he spoke, barely above a whisper. "But I must ask for your safety, your majesty, during the sun's hours. The lunar hours can hide your form but the sun..."

"I know how to take care of myself," was my cool answer. The man quickly apologized, bowing profusely. If anyone had been on the beach at this midnight hour they may have wondered why the man clearly twice the age of myself was acting like this, but there was no one around to see what was happening now to stir up the worlds.

"Forgive me your Majesty, I was not insinuating that you are incompetent to care for yourself, I believe it is quite the opposite. I was just concerned for your safety against the Everlost Rebellion if you were to be submerged during the sun hours. I would not want you to be caught and outnumbered, they would be quite..."

"At least you have some brains unlike those fools how constantly try and usurp my throne," I commented, then continued, "Rest at ease, anyone who crosses my path will be destroyed on the spot. I have nothing to fear in the water as well as the air. Now that the Guardian has been destroyed by the pesky Overlord, no one in that world knows of my appearance, not even those pathetic rebels who crossed me know of what I appear. No one would recognize me, and if they somehow knew, I would make sure they met the same fate as dear Jaden."

"Yes, Your Highness, be well," the man said, walking back into the water and soon disappeared, a long fin breaking the otherwise calm surface of the water before swimming to the whirlpool a good distance away. I watched the ocean currents for a while. A thin smile appeared on my lips when the waves crawled upon my toes, and I hummed tunelessly.

Soon, very soon...

* * *

**(Three weeks prior)**

**(Chris POV)**

I hefted the limp Angel in my arms, ducking low to avoid a blow and then allowing Allian to knock aside my offender. I felt the tears as if I wasn't quite apart of my own body, confused by their new presence in my life, cursing at my weakness. But who could blame me for having such a weakness? I had just lost a dear friend and perhaps the only one who could stand up and save us.

I was hardly aware now as I dodged through the thicket of soldiers, setting my will on simply getting out with the Angel safe, my last promise to keep to her dead love. All of the familiar faces that appeared in flashes as I raced towards my goal mirrored my expression; he was all of our pain now.

Without him, how could we end this war?

Without him, how long would she last?

Would she be strong enough to stand and fight?

Or will she wilt like a flower and never even awaken to a world without him?

I shook my head, no longer knowing up from down. We were over the camp now, Allian taking out her pain on anyone who got in her way, transferring it to them physically. As she cleared the path, I grit my teeth and searched, my wings aching with strain of Alexis' extra weight. It was times like these that I wished I had feathered wings to glide with.

There!

I saw the tent and swooped down upon it, slicing past the guards tussling with what members of the Rebellion remained in this realm, and entered through the mouth of our grinning marker. I winced when my fully extended wings clipped the edges and tore the tough fabric, yanking me back and making my feet slam into the ground uncomfortably. Something snapped and my vision blurred for a split second before I pushed forward and glanced briefly at the damage I had done, wondering if the tent was still recognizable.

It was now frowning.

I jerked my head back with a feeling of whiplash and propelled myself and Alexis in my arms through the portal and into the strange world of humans, heading up for safety, up into the sky, up into my home. My exhausted limbs protested but I ignored them, praying to all known Gods and Idols that some of—I couldn't even bring myself to say his name—his endurance had rubbed off on me and that we could make it to the hotel before more of her kind saw us.

Through all of this narrow fleeting time, the Angel Alexis had not moved in my arms. I tightened my grip on her, hoping to get some reaction, but all I managed to do was make a few still tears fall off of her cheeks. My eyes tried to overlook this and keep searching for our target, the hotel currently held by the Yuki family, where all of these winged creatures would take refuge like the water ones had taken before us. Through my uncommonly watery vision, the building seemed blurred and distorted, blending into each other in a mass of gray and brown and I accidently brushed a few with my injured foot more than once. Now it was throbbing painfully in my shoe, and I knew that my messy landing must have snapped my ankle.

I ignored it, climbing to a higher altitude and swirling high above the small city/large town and searched for the ridiculous thing that humans lived in for only moments. After two solid minutes of nothing, I risked dropping lower through the morning clouds that clung so closely to the Earth ground and came face-to-face with a woman looking out of her window. I had found the hotel, and a human had just found me. She opened her mouth and must have screamed, although I could barely hear it through the glass. She pointed at Alexis is my arms and opened the window, yanking another person into view.

"Alexis! OMG!" one of them said, her black hair getting stuck in the window frame before the other, a redhead, pushed her away. I angled my wings and beat them even faster than normal, adding a burst of wind in the mix to get me far, far away. I didn't know how they knew the girl's name, but my presence had obviously startled them, so they did not know about my race or world. It was better that way, but where was the roof? The others must be here.

Cautiously this time, I beat away the condensed rain with my wings and cleared my vision by closing my eyes and furiously shaking my head, dislodging any remaining water there. I saw nothing important for the first few seconds of descent and then they were all in front of me, on the roof of the structure, waiting for any others. I spotted his human friends as they ran over, livid that I had made their beasts leave when it was clear, but looking relieved that I had someone without wings with me as well. They looked up as I hovered there, hoping, waiting in the mist.

I shook my head, and they knew, their own tears descending from their eyes, appearing almost red in the rising sun. Allian appeared a little while afterwards, the rest of our people behind her, and gently took Alexis from me and handed her over to the taller brunette, her brother. He took the Angel in his arms and held her close, his sobs muffled by her hair. His eyes found me, thanking me for her safety but pleading to tell him that his fears weren't true. With a pang, his eyes became... and I had to turn away from them, unable to handle any sign of my dead friend.

"How? Who?" one of them whispered, the voice unrecognizable, too overcome and thick with tears.

I gripped my fist tighter, biting down on my tongue as the lie was about to come out to continue to protect his secret. No, I would not lie about how he died or who the murderer was, he did not deserve to live in lies and to die immersed in them as well. I wouldn't let him. "It was the Overlord. He was stalling for us, to let all of you get out safely. He was killed by the one that you all know as Nick Yuki."

* * *

**(Three Hours Later)**

"No, this could not have happened!" he cried out, alarmed, at the somber group of teens. They kept their eyes on the ground, not wanting to look at the prone figure on the bed so devoid of life or meet the eyes of another fool who still had hope, who still dared to deny the fact they all wanted to with every inch of their existence. "But how?" he finished, shaking his head. "Jaden surely isn't dead. I must have misheard you."

The silence that he received was answer enough for him. He bit his lip, devastated at losing such a valuable person and such a talented student. He covered his face in his big hands and waited for the inevitable bursts of survivor's guilt from the boy's many friends.

"My brother killed him, Chancellor Sheppard."

He looked up, surprised that someone actually had a reason to be guilty—other than Jaden loving them enough to give up his life for them. It was the girl he hadn't known that spoke, keeping her eyes hidden by her brown and red streaked hair. She sniffled slightly, wiping away a tear, before looking him straight in the eye and telling him the rest of the story.

"Jaden and I have been part of the Rebellion since we were young," she explained, her voice only trembling when she said his tabooed name. "He was part of the Evermore and I was part of the Everlost. We hadn't seen each other for ten years because when he was younger there was an incident between him and my older brother."

He noticed that Jesse Anderson had lifted up his gaze and was watching the girl as if trying to shield her from her sorrow. Then he looked away as if ashamed. The girl continued on without noticing this in the least. "The Yuki family has been tangled with the other worlds for years, because all of us born into it seem to develop a 'dark side', but it only shows when we need it to live or are put under terrible stress and burdens. I am the only one in my family who doesn't have a 'dark side', and now that I've seen what becomes of it, I am glad that I don't have any power. My brother, however, seemed to have too much for his age."

He nodded, taking this in, before switching his gaze over to the hotel bed and then back to the teens again, not liking to see the sight any more than they did.

"He and Haou crossed paths when I was five, Jaden was seven, and Nick was eight. Nobody knew what had happened except the boys themselves, and they weren't talking. Nick had been terrified by what had happened, and I was too. Jaden had been more frightened than any of us, and his mother took him and left in the middle of the night a week later."

"And I just saw him again for the first time in ten—no, almost eleven now I suppose—years. We ended up in the other dimension because of Nick, but Jaden managed to use Haou's powers to separate us in the gate so we were safe. He led us to the Evermore Rebellion, where we were housed and taken care of. I think that Jaden wanted us to be there only long enough for him to recover and open another portal, but once everyone learned of the war, they wanted to help."

Guilt flashed again in all of their faces. If they had just let Jaden protect them at the very beginning, he may not be gone now.

"We had learned that the Overlord sent his army to wipe us out and had left my older brother, Nick, who is just turning nineteen, in charge of it. We had secured a stable portal but refused to leave before the Rebellion, helping them get ready, burning papers and stuff. But my brother... he's been taken by his 'dark side' and is completely lost to it. He can't be brought back, not after killing his own flesh and blood... Nick had us surrounded, he sent a third of his men through Earth and caught us from behind. While we were fighting them off, the bulk of his army approached us from behind. We would have been massacred if Jaden hadn't..."

"He confronted your brother to stall and give you all time, and was killed when you all were escaping," he guessed, and Melody nodded. "And Alexis saw him die?"

"Allian, the Rebellion leader, Chris, and Alexis all saw him die before they left. They were hoping that he could find some way out of it and they could save him..."

He heaved a heavy sigh strolling over to the body on the bed and nodding towards the bizarre winged woman leaning over it, trying to heal whatever damage had been caused. "Then why is Alexis still unconscious after fainting? I know she must ache something horrible for Jaden, but what has driven her to this extent?"

No one answered him.

He turned around, trying to lock eyes with all of them. It was Jesse who spoke and surprised everyone. "She loved him," he said quietly. "She loved him more than life itself, and she lost him." He bit his lip as Ruby appeared on his shoulder and Melody glanced back at him. "So doesn't it make sense that now she's losing her life too? She doesn't see the point anymore, doesn't want to wake up to a world without him, a world that she despises because it stole him from her."

"You feel rather strongly about this, don't you Jesse?" he asked, surprised by the bluenette's insightful proclamation. "How do you know this?"

"I've felt love before, I know what it can do to a person," he sighed, "and we all saw them everyday. The way that they looked at each other... if you had seen it, you'd understand too..."

"They had a bond," Melody agreed, something bittersweet appearing in her voice. Then she whispered, **_"And as love brought them together, it was love that would tear them apart."_**

* * *

**(Earlier Today)**

**(Melody POV)**

We all waited around her bed, Mindy and Jasmine still sobbed, and Alexis still remained in the coma, seeming to have lost the will to wake up at all without Jaden. I made a little strange sob of my own at the thought, too painful to properly cry about. Not only had I lost my cousin, but I had lost him to my reticent brother, who I now knew was far too gone to save. A few tears leaked out of the corner of my eyes as I looked at her face again, slightly obscured by the precautionary oxygen mask, so filled with nothing.

That's just what everything felt like now, nothing. When Allian had left to search for a mesa in the desert and Ondine had left to look for the island, nothing, when my mother had held me in her arms so tightly and my father and come in as well, nothing; even now as Jesse pulled me closer to him and hugged me in an attempt to comfort me, nothing. I looked up at him and his own pained eyes, thanking him quietly before pushing him away and walking out of the hotel, towards the beach. People stared at me when I walked past and then at the hotel, curious as to if I knew what kind of a wealthy family could rent out the entire top and bottom floor and pool for three weeks straight.

Mine of course, from the never-ending cycle of life insurance coming from the first-born Yuki sons. I snorted, the family curse soaking up the money, great. I sighed, heading towards the harbor that Jaden had arrived on, refusing to meet any passerby's glance. Once I got there, I watched the boats coming and going as if I was waiting for a friend to arrive. When I left, I still felt nothing.

I walked along the beach after that in spite of Allian's clear warning not to before she left, stopping when I was quite alone and sitting down, another thing that Allian had forbidden us from doing. But what did Allian know? She let Jaden go after Nick, and look what happened. We lost him and now we're losing Alexis.

And, oh, let's not forget the war too.

A few hours later Jesse was next to me again, seeming to want to keep his promise to watch over me. He stared blankly out at the waves and tried to engage me in conversation. "I thought you'd be out here again Melody," he started, and I noticed the use of my real name, but even that was becoming common.

Everyone had decided that calling me Jaden's pet name brought up too many bad memories, so they stopped. Instead of making me feel better, it mad me feel worse, like it was even more proof that he was gone. "Why do you keep comin' here?" he asked me curiously, or as curiously as he could manage with sadness laced in his every word.

"I come here to be alone," I said evenly, watching the sun start to set. A few seagulls took off when they decided I wasn't going to feed them anything.

"Am I intrudin'?" Jesse asked respectfully trying to meet my eyes.

I looked right in his, trying to find something to fill my nothing in them. "Yes," I answered simply and he sighed, starting to get up. But then he paused, asking me another question, his hair highlighted with gold sunlight.

"But do you mind?"

"No," I replied, tucking my knees closer to my body and wrapping my arms around them, placing my chin on my knees, and letting my hair hide my face.

He just barely smiled and sat back down, being quiet with me and watching the sun. We stayed there until it was completely dark; now really risking our skins to be attacked, but Jesse didn't make me move or leave.

I was grateful for this, but discouraged by it at the same time. I was losing him too. If this had been any other time, in any other place, any other world for that matter, he would have already be splashing me or challenging me to a duel or bantering with me or...

I cut off that stream of thoughts. They hurt too much to think about.

So he waited for me instead of coming to me, even after the sun set and we returned back to our temporary home. We stood awkwardly in the fancy lights of the hotel, sizing each other up as if seeing whose grief was worse. Sighing, he told me that he was going to go for a walk around the city and asked quietly if I wanted to join him.

"It clears your head," he said, no real conviction entering his melancholy voice.

"No Jesse, I'm going to bed. Night," I replied with a sigh of my own and reached out to him, pulling him close to my body. He stiffened, caught off guard, and put his arms awkwardly around me as I rested my chin on his shoulder. The world spun in precious silence, reserving this moment for the two of us only. We shared warmth for a few minutes in the darkness, and then he pulled away. I let go of him and decided, right there looking into his conflicted emerald eyes, that I wouldn't make him wait much longer. As soon as he was back from his walk, I would tell him everything.

"Jesse," I started to say, but he was already turning away, dragging his feet across the pavement, his head firmly down, and refusing to look at the stars. Sighing, I cupped my arms around my mouth and called out to him, "Good night Jesse! I'll be waiting up for you! Get back soon and be careful!"

He raised one hand in a half-wave before he rounded the corner and disappeared. I stood out on the steps of the hotel for a short while longer, staring at the place where he had last been seen, before turning the handle of the hotel door and walking inside. The hotel clerk looked up from her paperwork and pursed her lips at me. I ignored her and headed towards the stairs, choosing their difficulty instead of the elevator in hopes of destroying my treacherous thoughts from resurfacing. It worked better than planned. By the time I made it to the top floor, my legs were burning and filled with lead, complaining and dragging themselves across the cream carpet.

I made my way over to my bed and collapsed on it, only able to keep my eyes open for seconds before drifting off.

I had meant to wait up for him.

_Now he was dying._

**(Present Day—Evermore Castle)**

"Sire," a servant bowed to him loyally. Nick Yuki looked down at him from his throne, placing his sword back into place. The Overlord simply stared him down, waiting for his information. He looked up, his entire being shaking at the sight of him. Nothing was said, only serving to make him more intimidated.

"Has the prisoner awoken yet?" he wondered impatiently, hating to have to speak in secrecy while his castle was repaired from the damage that rotten dragon had done. The workers around them spared glances occasionally, wondering what the young and powerful man was up to after forcing the Rebellion to flee from this world. He swept around and locked eyes with each individual in the room until they were white in the face and had dropped whatever it was they were holding. They continued their work silently after this encounter, none of them daring to consider eavesdropping again.

"There has been no change no matter what our healers do, Sire," the servant squeaked, his voice high-pitched with anxiety, keeping his eyes anywhere but his face. "What are your orders to do with the rebel scum Sire?"

He picked up his belt and attached it to his waist in one deft movement, grinning when the sounds of various dangerous metals clanging against one another startled his servant. Frowning again, he gestured for the man to follow him. The servant nearly tripped over himself as he struggled to keep up with the Overlord's long strides. They walked in silence through the castle, nodding occasionally at the workers to show he approved and intimidating the humans he had kidnapped to help rebuild his army. He scowled again when he though about that day before pushing it away, but the thoughts still haunted him.

_What could happen if he took Jaden's life and erased it?_

His scowl deepened as he threw open the door to the prisoner's room, marching right up the unconscious rebel and staring into their closed eyes. The precautionary chains now hung useless from the wall—they had established that the rebel wasn't waking up any time soon.

"Sire," one of the messengers bowed to him, hastily shoving an IPod into his pocket. Nick did not comment on the use of technology, he simply stared at the rebel, waiting for one of them to ask him the question again, the same thing that they always asked. It came quickly from the servant.

"Your Highness, would you like to be rid of this scum? Nothing has changed since arrival..." Whatever the man had been about to say was silenced by a quick swipe of a dagger and a cloud of orange dust.

The other men in the room jumped and steadied themselves before grinning like madmen and nodding at the young man, bloodthirsty. For their entertainment, Nick answered the now dead servant's stupid question.

"No, this prisoner is the only person that we managed to capture from the cowards that ran away when faced with my army, we can get valuable information when this unconsciousness ends. We need to know where they went so we can eliminate them in one decisive strike."

"Let us at those cowards right now Your Highness! We'll tear them apart until their blood poisons the earth!"one of them shouted, drawing his own dagger and shaking it above his head enthusiastically.

"You cannot wander around the human world without drawing attention to yourself, can you?" he snarled in return, turning his back on the rebel who continued to defy him with unconsciousness.

The man fell silent, trying to think about it and giving up when his brain began to ache.

"No Sire, I apologize Sire," he answered finally, bowing his head. Nick took a breath and steadied himself, unsure where all of these emotions had been coming from. He had always felt anger, but nothing to the extent that he was snapping at his servants before he thought about it. He shook his head, dislodging the feelings. It just must be some drawn-out side affect from withstanding such a blast from the Guardian. Yes, that must be it. He would be back to normal in no time and would have the Rebellion cornered, and he could get to the Angel now that her Guardian couldn't protect her.

_All I had to do was find her..._

He fingered the dagger held in his hands expertly, his eyes darting towards his prisoner. "Healer!" he demanded, and the third and final man in the room stepped forward.

"Yes Sire?"

"How quickly can you heal wounds?"

"If you'll pardon my arrogance sir, I could heal a wound just as quickly as it was slashed open."

"Good," he mused, completely facing the dangling rebel. "Let's see how this mongrel responds to pain!"

* * *

**(Present With Jesse POV)**

She leaned over the edge, and I raced towards her, my arm outstretched, wanting to stop her, whoever she was. The sound of soles against concrete faded and was replaced with the easily breakable and delicate blades of grass, the softer earth slowing my momentum slightly. Her feet were just parting with the fraying blades as I made a grab and came away with a few light strands of hair, unable to see their color in the dark night. I leaned over the railing, still reaching for the woman, and she turned back, opening her arms towards me, her eyes serene.

_"Come with me,"_ she mouthed, opening her arms wider. Suddenly the world seemed to be tipping and I felt myself slowly start to move. I couldn't move any part of my body, fear rooting me firmly to the spot. The railing shook in my hands as my weight seemed to overpower the soft earth and strong metal bonds, and it kept leaning closer and closer to the long drop. I knew by some deep human instinct that it wasn't high enough to kill me, but that same instinct told me that I wouldn't make it out of this alive. _"Come with me, Jesse. Save me."_

She hit the water first, sending the splash up towards me, carried by the wind that was trying to push my body back and defy gravity. Something changed the second the woman hit the water, and I felt myself go rigid before I myself crashed into the surf, only recognizing a flash of silver and pink where the woman's legs should have been. The freezing temperatures and the impact knocked my breath clean out of my lungs, and I floated there briefly, dazed.

_"Only you can save me..."_

I felt her hands lace on my shoulders and looked up, alarmed, into her red eyes, kicking in every direction now to try and resurface for air. Her hold tightened, and I felt my body slowing, my lungs screaming for oxygen and my muscles starved of their power. Slowly, I felt spasms shake up and down my form, staring blankly at the light of the moon above me, the world where she was waiting for me to come back, where she was already so broken...

_I'm so sorry Melody..._

I shot up in the hotel bed, tossing my covers to the floor, looking for the pale hands against my drenched skin or the blue tint of the ocean. Neither. Inhaling a relieved breath, I stood up and ran my fingers through my teal hair. "Just a dream, nothin' to get so worked up about!" I scolded myself. Ruby appeared on my shoulder sleepily, rubbing her cheek against mine in a soothing matter. I reached up to pet her but then remembered that we were in my home world and that it would be pointless.

"Thanks gal, I'm fine now. 'Sides, it's not like that's the first time I've had it, right?" I assured the little spirit. She nodded, vanishing, as I opened the door to my room and then left, heading towards the large balcony, my place to think.

My feet padded lightly against the carpet and I found that I was wishing for the steadiness of concrete instead. Chiding myself lightly, I pushed open the balcony doors and stepped out into the night, breathing in the salty air. I situated myself so that I didn't glance over at the whirlpool sight or the stars and sighed again, not wanting to think because I knew I would drift towards him. But I was not able to sleep because of her.

Just dandy ain't it?

"Jesse?"

I turned, keeping my gaze down, and sought out the gentle voice that had called me.

"Hey Melody," I answered, turning my back to her to hide the shame that I felt. "What are you doin' up?"

I heard her breath heavily at the insistence to use her full name. "I had a weird dream. You?"

"Same," I continued, though my tone suggested that I really didn't want to talk to her about it. She, being the Yuki that she was, ignored it and moved up next to me, boldly looking up at the stars. I cringed.

"You died in my dream," she informed me. "It was weird. I wasn't anywhere near you, I couldn't see you or anything, but I just knew that you were fading, and I couldn't find you in the darkness. I couldn't help you."—she shivered—"It was a horrible feeling..."

I felt her sorrow permeating from her being like tidal waves, crashing into my will, threatening to knock him off my feet, "That's too bad. But I'm here, nothin' to worry 'bout."

"Jesse..." she said, grabbing my hand to get my attention. I refused to give in and look at her—because if I looked I would lose it. And I couldn't do that, I couldn't feel this way. I couldn't take advantage of her pain; I couldn't feel so happy when she touched me. I just couldn't, not to his cousin, not without his permission. I refused to scorn my best friend's will; I refused to let Melody get too close. She couldn't truly love while she was in mourning. And I wouldn't stoop so low as to trick her into such a powerful emotion because I was just the only one who happened to be there.

"I really thought that I could save you," she said suddenly.

What in the world is she talkin' about?

"Jesse... you could still be saved," she mused. "But it was just so dark and so... cold. I just couldn't find you in time to save you. I looked and looked everywhere, I called out to you... but you died. I could feel it. But I really thought that you would hold on for me. I thought that you'd wait for me..."

I cracked. "Mels, I would never do that to you!" I was facing her now, gazing into her beautiful eyes—then I was holding her in a reassuring hug, breathing in her strawberry-shampoo. "I'd wait for you for all eternity if I had to! I'd never let,"—I remembered myself and tried to undo the damage—"a friend down! 'Sides, we made that promise right? I'm not gonna go and give up just to make you break it am I?"

A tiny smile carved itself into her face, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She looked upwards again. "I think that he's up there Jesse. I think that he'd want us to be happy."

"Then why would he die?" I mouthed into her hair, still staring at the ground instead of the stars.

She must have felt my lips move out because she replied, "He died so we could be happy Jesse. I think he knew something, something important, still needed to happen."

I cringed as if she had hit me.

That's not what she means Jesse; she doesn't have feelings for you. Besides, he didn't know about my feelings...

I doubted he would have liked it even when he was alive. He was very fond of her and seemed a bit protective. Why else would he have snapped out of it when she touched him all those years ago?

My feelings were just a smack in his face.

"Jesse... you know... in Evermore, when you were—hurt—I think Jaden and Alexis figured something out."

"Hmm?"

"Yeah... I figured something out too... Jesse... I—"

* * *

**(Jaden POV)**

"Jaden," Alexis started, and I tightened my grip on her in the darkness, "how are you here?"

I heard her as if from a far distance, my eyes gazing towards something she couldn't see, as always. But then again, whatever it was I was looking at escaped me too. "I don't know, but I'm not going to leave you, not yet."

"Yet?"

"I can't stay here forever. Neither can you," I sighed, squeezing my eyelids together. She tensed, thinking that I was going to fade into the misery of her thoughts via clouds of dust. For all I knew, that really could happen at any moment. But I just opened my eyes and smiled at her instead. If this was my final breath, then I was going to spend it making her happy. "Lighten up Lexi. Live a little."

My feeble attempt at a joke did not amuse her. She simply sniffed rather loudly and continued to hold me in the dark cavern that was her blackened mind. "What... what was the last thing you remember?"

I tensed, multiple images flying into my line of sight. Her face was the most dominant premonition, a raised sword, the flashed image of Nick's supposed "Angel" card, her smile, her laugh, our friends, the future we could never have, her beauty, a flash of steel, pain...

As soon as I remembered the cursed feeling, it ripped through my, contracting my muscles into doubling over, my hands automatically covering where the wound originated. They fit themselves into the mangled strands of brown hair above my ear and cupped it as my body remembered the blood that ghosted through them. Then something else slashed its way to my attention, and my hands instead went to my gut, pounding into the raw flesh and soaking material that made up my shirt.

"Jaden!" she gasped, her voice finally releasing any sorrow it held and replacing it with surprise. Then her hands went over mine and pulled them away, gently lifting up my shirt to see the marred flesh hidden beneath it. She stopped breathing for a second. "Was that where...?"

I shook my head, not disagreeing, but trying to say that I didn't know. I couldn't remember where Nick had struck me dead, and I did not want to remember. If I remembered, then she would see it in my thoughts, and it would cause her pain as well.

I distantly heard myself make a startled noise, almost like a fish gulping for water in the air. Then there was only pain, pain and my Angel. I forced open my eyes, fresh with moisture, and examined my hypaethral stomach with teeth clenched. Torn edges decremented the mouth and dipped lifeless into the red lake pooling up beneath our stained hands. The waters stirred with the rain from our eyes, bleeding itself out over the ragged openings until it flooded over the rest of my abdomen as well. Sickeningly mesmerized by the sight, my mind wandered among the pain, trying to solve the unanswered questions.

But what had triggered this wound again? Was it because I was thinking about it? I hadn't even known it had existed until it started, so that couldn't be it. But...

I tried to ignore it, convince myself that it wasn't there, but it didn't work. My skin still screamed at me to stop the pain, my useless blood continued to spill over our hands.

_Try harder,_ I yelled at my mind. _There is no pain. There is no wound. You are dead. You can't feel physical pain anymore! It doesn't exist! Haou? Help me out here!_

Silence.

It stopped abruptly as it started. My skin was flawless, unmarked as it had been before I had tangled with the Overlord. The pain dissipated with it, and we were left sitting stunned. I looked up at her; she looked up at me. Oddly enough, it was not the fact that my suffering had stopped that startled us; it was that Haou had not responded. Maybe that was what stopped the pain, his absence distracted me enough to forget about it for a millisecond.

"Where is he?" she voiced, returning my shirt to its original position.

"Haou?" I called out in response, knowing he could hear my verbal call too. Nothing. "I don't know. He's not answering."

We were quiet after that, simply holding each other. Then, "Well, that's alright. I didn't like him very much."

I laughed and moved my arm up to her shoulder, pulling her closer and brushing my lips across her forehead. "He wasn't a big fan of you either."

Her brow creased at these words, and she looked up at me, her eyes unusually piercing. "Jaden... do you hate me?"

"Wha? Huh?" I exclaimed, my eyebrows practically shooting off of my head. "Why would you ask something like that?! I love you Alexis!"

"I know," she replied, weaving our fingers together as if she wasn't just asking me a relationship-shattering question, "and I love you. It's just something that Haou told me..."

"Well, he's not here anymore, is he? So let's just ignore anything he told you, kay? I love you Lexi, why would I hate you?"

"But you can only truly hate the ones you love."

"Alexis!" I shouted, making her flinch. The fact that she shied away from me washed guilt into my mind, but I had to make her understand. "Get this through your beautiful head! I don't hate you! I never have hated you and I never will! Where's this coming from anyway? Is it your time of the month or something?"

Tears spilled over her long eyelashes again, painting trails down her face. I was about to take it all back and apologize, hold her close and whisper reassurances into her ear, but she spoke up first. "Jaden, Haou told me that he has to feel what you feel, that because of you he loves me. And because of that he hates me. So, shouldn't it work the other way? You are the same person after all, so part of you must hate me."

It was as if the floor had just been pulled out from under us, and we were free-falling into the unknown darkness that created our existence. She was, for reasons I didn't understand, unshakably set on making me say that some part of me hated her, and I was just as determined to prove her wrong. Confusion and misery flew past us on our descent, scattering away any romantic feelings that had been set when I initially reached out to her.

"Alexis, why are you even saying this? I don't understand. All that matters is I'm here... that I can still hold you, right? Aren't you glad that I'm not gone yet?"

We picked up speed as she nodded, and then shook her head fiercely. However, her hold on my never loosened or tensed, she continued to cling as if she could pull me back into life. What was going on here? "Yes! No! I don't know Jaden!"

Her indecision stung into me like thousands of enraged wasps and continued to sting, over and over again. How could she not be happy that I wasn't gone yet? Didn't she want me to comfort her, to put her back on her feet?

"Alexis... what are you thinking about?" I murmured, looking away from her tear-stained eyes so she wouldn't see the hurt in my own.

"Shouldn't you know?" she responded, not angry, just confused. We stopped dead in our tumble.

"I... yes. I should know... but... we're both really confused. I can't get anything coherent from you. It's just a jumble of emotions..." I explained carefully, trying my best not to alarm her or let her onto the fact that I was lying. Again. But I couldn't open my big mouth and tell her that for some reason I couldn't hear her thoughts at all anymore. No, that would just hurt her even more and make her think that our connection was lost. "Why do you really think I hate you?"

"Because of me you had to die," she whispered, her fingers touching my face as if they didn't believe I was solid. "Because of me you were hurt by the messenger. Because of me we were dragged into this dimension in the first place. Because of me you—"

"Because of you I lived Alexis. Because of you I was happy. Because of you I died willingly. Because of you I'm here. Because of you I had a soul mate. Because of you I loved. For you I was born," I replied, cutting her off. "And that's all there is to it. I wouldn't want it any other way. Well... maybe a little different. Not having Haou would've been a good bonus from the start!"

She made a rather strangled sound in response, something that would have been a laugh if the tears had not suffocated it first. "I love you so much Jaden... so much it hurts..."

"Then why do you want me to say that I hate you?"

She buried her face in my chest and possibly said the answer that I had fruitlessly grasping at, but it was too muffled to understand. She must have understood that, because she sent me a thought. Surprised, I felt it over, trying to dissect the meaning while juggling with confusion. How could she send me these but I couldn't pick her up anymore? Was it because I was dead?

I puzzled over her answer for a little while longer, trying to untangle the thicket of emotions and find the golden nugget of truth within it. Frustrated seconds passed—or maybe even days, who knows when one is holding the one they love in their arms while they slumber in comatose?—while I wrestled with it, and eventually I grabbed it and pulled it out, though it still didn't make much sense.

_I want you to hate me because you love me enough to die and I don't want you to die but you're already dead and you shouldn't be here you should be wherever it is that you go when you die so I can join you and we can be happy but if you hate me then we can't be happy but if you don't hate me then you won't go and then I'll have to live without you and you won't pass on but I really don't want you to go I want you to tell me you love me and you always will over and over until the day we die but you can't because you said you are going to leave and you'll only leave when you think I can handle life again but I won't be able to without you so you won't move on but that would be too selfish to keep you here forever so why won't you just hate me and go the heaven already?! That way I can die and apologize to you up there..._

I stopped listening then, the familiarity of the insanity ringing bells in my mind. That sounded like a good guy version of the rants that I went on when I was trying to use my power. Where they really so odd then, if she had them too? Were they just a part of truth ingrained in every human mind waiting to bite our sanity in the butt because we thought it should happen? Was that the reason why I had nearly no control over it even with her fighting by my side? Because I thought it would happen and didn't think that it couldn't happen?

_Shut up stupid. Don't think like that. Your power was just too dangerous, it wasn't anything you could have done that made it so bad._ From her again. I managed a smile.

"Teasing me again? You must be feeling better."She sent me a wall of sorrow in response. "Alexis, you have to wake up sometime. Like you ranted, I'm giving it my all not to go until you're awake again and trying! Everyone is still counting on us to end the war Lex, and I can't do it from the grave!"

"I can't do it alone."

"You won't be alone," I insisted, rubbing her shoulders with my left hand. "You've got me, always."

"If you point to my heart and tell me that's where you are I swear I'm going to smack you Jaden Yuki," she replied, only ruining her tough act with a sniffle afterwards and a few more tears.

"No Mrs. In-our-minds-Yuki. I was going to tap your head silly. Where do you think we are right now? Texas?" I answered, just as softly. "I'm not going to leave you until your ready, even if I have to flick off a whole bunch of saintly-dudes with white wings and robes."

A snort. I was making progress!

"Why Texas?"

"Jesse's from there! That's why!"

"Of course. The J twins. That's just the answer to everything, isn't it?" she replied, trying to keep up the train of random humor but failing at her dead-pan tone. I decided to ignore that for the time being in hopes that it might cheer her up enough to consider waking up. I was all to aware of the tiny smile gracing her face and grinned myself, only flinching slightly when I fleetingly remembered the pain of another pre-death injury cutting across my right arm. Yes, I was making progress.

I just hoped I could get her up before my time was up.

_If only I had known how short it would be._

* * *

**And... the cliffhanger! Kinda. Sorta. **

**More foreboding really... but onto my point!**

**UPDATES ARE GOING TO BE SLOW!! I REPEAT!! UPDATES ARE GOING TO BE SLOW!!**

**This trimester I don't have any blow-off classes, so homework is killing me already. I'll try and update as frequently as possible (I still have to update Without You before going on to continue only this story and the winner of my poll) and I'm so sorry for the inconvience!**

**AND!!**

**Crazyfangirl101 (AKA the very nice neighbor who let me use her computer when mine died) has been kind enough to make me a deviantart of The Rising! It's very nice and I showered her in gum in thanks, so I want you guys to check it out to! Free advertising! Whoot!**

**Oh, right, you type in "AxJfan Rising" (I think) and it's the only one that pops up (once again I think). If anyone else has done anything let me know so I can advertise you to (not asking for anything so don't feel obliged, I am perfectly happy with simply writing). **

**That's all! Thanks for reading and please review to tell me what you thought and how I can improve!**

**Buh-Bye!**

**AxJfan**

* * *


	3. Beyond

**(pokes head in)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, as many fans will be thankful for. **

**I do own my predictions for the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5ds arc though! **

**They are short and might not be correct...**

**Sherry has Crow's Dragon Card**

**Bruno is Dark Glass**

**Bruno lost his memory because of the Accel Synchro**

**...**

**that's all I've got. (:**

* * *

**Beyond**

**(Overlord's Healer POV)**

My master swept out of the room in the midst of his dark rage, leaving the mangled body of our young prisoner hanging in his chains. My mouth was open in a mixture of horror and disgust; I couldn't believe that such violence and merciless hatred had emerged from my Overlord. And on one as young as this boy! The second the door slammed shut I threw myself towards the nearly dead prisoner and set myself to healing his shattered body. It took all of five minutes—I was the best in my trade.

Sighing, I removed the shackles from his angry wrists, knowing that the Overlord may have my head if he found out that I took them off. I couldn't understand what was wrong with him; he had come back from the slaughtering of the Rebellion a different man. He constantly confined himself to his Majesty's—the older majesty that was never seen around the castle anymore, Charles'—room for long hours on end. Not that he was talking to the old Overlord, most of us in the castle were very aware that the old man had been killed already.

It was just the public that thought he was handing over his crown to young Nick willingly.

I sighed again, sweeping the thoughts away by brushing my hand through the prisoner's black, sweaty hair. Poor boy. He had to be no older than eighteen with his soft face and lean body. He was probably born into the Rebellion, raised on their tainted beliefs. He had no chance to choose between the good and the bad in this war. He probably even thought that he was on the good side. Well, if he ever wakes up from this state, then I will do my best to make sure that (presuming the Overlord allows him life) he learns of the wrongs of the Rebellion and comes to understand that destroying the Everlosts is the only way to save our world.

In a considerably better mood now, I retrieved a rag damp with cold water and placed it over the boy's tanned forehead to break his fever. Magic only worked on so much...

So to pass the time, I started to play one of my most prized games. I tried to guess my patient's species. Lately, this game was becoming increasingly difficult with all the interbreeding going on (not that it's a bad thing or anything, it just makes it harder to guess) and this patient was no exception. The pattern on his wings wasn't helping me get any results. The tips were a heavy black color that matched his hair and there were scattered brown spots on random feathers, as if an artist had taken a paint brush and splattered the color over them.

Carefully, I reached out and stroked one of those feathers, trying to feel the texture. They were soft and sticky with blood—time to wash them.

I did this after every session the prisoner silently endured with the new Overlord or his servants. Partly to keep him presentable to my higher ups and partly because I felt badly for him.

Maybe an hour or two later he was in top condition again—fresh clothes, clean skin, wet hair. Instead of hanging him back up, I put him on my own bed (I had to sleep in my medical room when I had unstable patients and I very much considered him one of those) and watched him sleep. Well, if that's what I'd call it.

He was breathing constantly and evenly, his heart thumping at a slightly quicker pace than the human's—a healthy heart for any of the species. I frowned. Maybe an avian-angel mixed? But that was preposterous, much like a fallen and pure angel falling in love. Avians were too violent for gentle angels such as me to deal with. Maybe he has some fairy blood in him and the tips of his wings change color according to emotions. That made much more sense. The black was a common color seen near death or in deep sleep and brown was generally a neutral color.

If he had any fairy blood in him, it would show in his eyes. I leaned over his face and tugged up his eyelids, gazing at the muddled green eyes beneath it. Green? They should be brown or black to match his wings if my theory was correct...

Humph...

Well, I'll guess I'll just have to keep on guessing.

There was a knock on the door.

"Healer? Young Master Nicholas has ordered me to inform you of his... uh... he's going out with his army to try and root out Everlosts and any pockets of the Rebellion left."

"Really?" I smiled, steadying my hands by gently running them through my patient's think hair. "Well thank you for informing me. Does he wish for me to contact him immediately if my... if the rebel boy wakes up?"

"Duh." And with that, my unrefined coworker's feet stomped away from the closed door, his heavy metal boots echoing down the marble hallways with every step he took. My smile deepened.

"A sprite," I informed my young charge cheerfully, "wonderful creatures really, though not incredibly intelligent at times... I suppose it depends on the upbringing right? Well, I believe its time that I find something to call you... I can't keep calling you boy all the time; it's not in an angel's nature to be so harsh! Hmm..."

I placed my hands on his temples gently, willing my mind to brush against his. A name shouldn't be that hard to find in an unconscious teenager, as a matter of fact, it was really one of the few things that never truly vanished. It was also imprinted right in one's...

Curdled fire swept across the tentative link I tried to establish, engulfing my mind in a vortex of anger and agony. A mind block! No—a trap!

I tumbled off the bed with a loud crash, coaxing the blackened tips of my fingers into new health. A new headache pounded against my skull as I gaped at the young boy with renewed interest, sending small sparks of my magic up to my aching cranium in silent contemplation.

This was not right. To form a block to that power while comatose... it was impossible. Even if this boy had unexplained powers—like the young Overlord, the Guardian, or the Angel—the mind would be in no proper state to defend itself to such a degree. In order to do that... it had to be conscious.

Alive.

_Watching._

A shiver ran down my spine.

* * *

**Third Person POV**

"Jesse... you know... in Evermore, when you were—hurt—I think Jaden and Alexis figured something out."

"Hmm?"

"Yeah... I figured something out too... Jesse... I—"

One billion stars exploded above their heads in a single piercing scream. Both bodies leapt apart in a mixture of surprise and fear, the connection between their strangled hearts severed brutally by yet another casualty of war.

"Who was—?" they began, cutting themselves short when they realized the question was mutual. Silence became their companion with a rough snatch of a thin wrist, voices only hindering their ability to track the desperate shrieks.

No words shared, he threw the door open and she leapt onto the railing, whirling down the tight turns of the stairs with uncomfortable precision. The puffs of heavy breath in her ear assured her he was not far behind. They passed several alarmed members of the rebellion on their journey down, shouting out conflicting orders, confused and harmless without their fearless leader in their ranks.

The end of the railing came more quickly than either of them could imagine. Startled gasps escaping, they collided with the carpet and each other, quickly entangling themselves in extruding limbs and burning rug burn.

With a shared, "You alright?" they leapt right into action once again, shoving past the bewildered night guard and frightened receptionist. She was a rebel. He was a duelist. They were more than qualified to handle this job. The others—confused and weakened—would only get in their way.

"HELP! PLEASE!!"

"Left," Melody instructed, veering sharply down the corner Jesse had disappeared down not so long ago. With only a pang of hesitance, he followed, readying his deck in case of the damage inflicting duels he had witnessed _him_ endure before...

"Oh God! Please—no!"

"Hurry up!" she hissed, although whether she was yelling at herself or Jesse was uncertain.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" he puffed out anyway, knocking his forearm against hers to show his location.

"It's not fast enough!" she retorted, digging deep into the reserves she had built in her years of secret training. But somehow, even then, Jesse was still by her side, breathing hard and harsh into the suddenly frigid devil's hour.

In fact... was that his breath in the air?

"Water duel!" she gasped, crashing into her companion to correct their course as quickly as possible. "Feel the temp? That must mean someone's using an ice monster, and that's a staple of the Everlost Army's standard decks!"

"The beach!" Jesse agreed, sending his spirits off to scout ahead of them. Amethyst Cat refused to leave their side however, and they were both glad for her sharp claws clicking silently against the pavement beside them as another scream rang out.

"Please! I'm not a proper duelist! I just wanted a better life among the humans! No—please!"

They were close enough to hear the impact of the duel monster's attack this time.

"A little bit further!" Melody urged, gazing up at the dwindling height of building in her hometown lit by the stars, signaling an approach to the ocean.

"Just another block!" Jesse agreed, eyes training along the concrete to where it gave out to thick rolls of grass that panned out into grains of glittering sand.

Powerful like the shark and dolphin, they propelled themselves forward with all the force they could muster, outmaneuvering all other creatures with their superior speed and strength. And true to their nature, she broke the surface tension while he remained deeply submerged.

Heads began poking out of windows tentatively, curlers and nightgowns blowing in the crisp breeze blowing at their stomachs. A few screens of light dotted the structures as concerned citizens began to dial 9-1-1, and the empty house of Mystic shone strangely in the moonlight...

They rounded the corner.

And collided heavily with fate.

* * *

**In the Hotel**

Nurse Fonda Fontaine barely had time to duck into a corridor as Jesse Anderson and Melody Yuki barreled past her. Stunned to see her student acting so efficiently, she forgot what she had been coming up here to do in the first place. Of course, there had been a scream, and she knew that she had best gather up medical supplies in case it was one of their... winged guests who had once again gotten themselves hurt flying about the city.

But based on the urgency of the young friends' footfalls, she could easily guess that it was more than that.

All the more reason to set up a bed next to pitiable Alexis Rhodes, she supposed. Ignoring the disorganized chaos to the best of her ability (and trying very hard not to recall how similar this confusion was to the kind in the desert world, where Jaden and his friends had stepped up and calmed the madness) she slipped into her room; quietly beginning to sterilize her tools and primp the pillows.

"Alexis, what have you all gotten yourselves into?" she asked the prone form on the bed. Her top student gave no reply, which really, was the best reply Ms. Fontaine could get. Any other would undoubtedly be a lie to shield her or the painful agony of the truth.

Quickly completing her self-appointed tasks, the hastily appointed "healer" sat down on the broken girl's bed and gently began stroking her long blonde locks. "This isn't what Jaden would have wanted you to do," she informed the so-called Queen of Obelisk Blue. "Whatever the circumstances, he didn't die for you to kill yourself. He died so you could live, you know."

"You shouldn't be remembering him through the bad times Alexis, you should be thinking of the great times you had with him," she added thoughtfully. "It may seem like those will only hurt more, but that's not true. They'll help you get through this quicker... but you've got to wake up. These guys need someone to whip them all into shape. And from the whispers I've been hearing... they all think you're some kind of angel or hero or whatever. They'll listen to you. And you can lead them; you're really strong like that."

Another scream ripped through the air, drawing her gaze to the dim stars beyond their large window.

"And Ra knows we need you."

* * *

**Within**

"We need to make a stand."

She turned once more; gazing up at her dead soul mate as he stood, tall and bright against the swirling shadows that had consumed her. For a moment she hesitated, confused by his sudden detachment and fierce expression. Then she rose with him, as she had vowed to do the lost night they had made the eternal pact of marriage... and the following days of death and misery.

"Jaden?" she asked, palms kissing in tight prayer.

Brown eyes alight with a fire that death had not even dampened; he made rough contact with her shoulders, bringing her as close to his chest as he could, almost as if intending to fully unite them.

"We need to stand," he recanted with a voice she had not heard him use in this life, "or we will fall."

Cryptic, the morbid prophecy echoed around them, hunting down the silence and exterminating it in even the farthest recesses of her mind. She said nothing in reply, simply stopped her silent prayer to cup his wingless shoulder blades and bury her face in his soft brown hair, like they had so many times in so many places, all across the worlds.

She knew him well enough to know that he would not just leave a simple sentence hanging in the air. No, he would talk and talk and talk about it until it became the first thing in history to die of boredom. Her grip tightened as she felt his mouth move against her hair, grateful for the smallest things that would never change between them.

And unbeknownst to her, her lips pulled into a smile.

"Think about it Lex," he continued, gaining volume and authority, "You and I were the only things holding off the Overlord and Queen from all out chaos. The only reason those two worlds... maybe even our own world too... is still standing is because of us. Our power! And although they'll claim it was because they wanted us to give one side the upper hand, to save troops, blah, blah, blah... in the end, they were just lying."

Now she pulled away to search for his soul in his deep chocolate eyes, marveling in his words with her own unyielding gaze. "What are you getting at Jaden?"

Now he smiled as well, and the fire in his eyes roared to heights that would have terrified any enemy and given all allies irrepressible hope. "Alexis, you don't need to be afraid to face the world without me."

"I am _not_ afraid!" she denied immediately, the sharp glare she was famous for appearing on her face. If anything, his grin grew to her response and he squeezed her shoulders heartily, excitement radiating from his very soul.

"Yes you are," he argued, but plowed ahead before she could interfere. "You're not just afraid of what will happen to me if you wake up; you think that you'll let down the world because you're not _me_. You think that once you open your eyes for real, to a world in desperate need of a hero, that I'll be gone, and you won't be good enough."

"That's not true! I just don't want to wake up to a world without you! You are so much to me! Even if part of you hates me... You were my entire reason to live!"

"That's a lie," he countered, voice caressing her sensitive skin like the tip of a soft feather. "You're too strong for this. Before the Dark World you did not need some dumb guy to define your life. And you don't need that guy to live the rest of your life happily. What you need is to stop being afraid—it's always been your fear that drives you away from that path you've established for yourself."

"Name one time that's happened," she demanded, feeling the tension of a fight about to break out between them. But her legs shook where they would have once stood strong, and her eyes smarted with tears that never would have shown before.

His hand trailed down the frame of her hair absently, a whisper against her screams. "Junior Year, Duel Academy, when you were dueling against White Chazz; he scared you with all his talk of destiny and superior strength. And you lost because you started to doubt yourself—and you stayed lost because you thought that you were too weak on your own. You were afraid of failure then, and you still are now."

"You're wrong... I'm not here because I'm afraid... it's because I love you so much that..." the guilty party denied, detaching herself from him with flaming resentment. Hazel eyes glittered down at him behind her long lashes defiantly, and his grin grew to a size it had not been in far too long.

"I didn't save you from that place Alexis. I didn't save Chazz either. I couldn't save any of you from the Light because it had not taken you. You let yourself be snatched up, and then you broke free. Sure, it may have taken me baiting you and giving you a rough duel, but you came through! You never needed me to save you. You still don't! You can save yourself, like you always pride yourself on being able to do—like you did against Titan to help Atticus in year one, or how you tried to reach me in the Dark World!"

Orange and brown hues splashed across her mind as she remembered, bathing him in dim fire once again. That moment where his resolve had flickered with the candlelight, where he had first sealed his heart away from them, where she had finally let hers show, where she had failed to show him how much he meant to all of them... to bring it up now, after failing him in death, seemed almost too cruel for any part of him. "Jaden... I..."

"Shut up! I know you love me; this doesn't have to do with that! You can still love me and be independent! That's why I love you, for your strength and inner power! But you don't need me to live! You just want me in your life," he finished. "You've never needed a soul mate to be who you are Alexis."

His hands left her face, eyes dark and sad—"But the world has always needed mine to be just that person. Alexis, the rebellion may be strong, but they will not survive without you—without us. And because of who we are... the Guardian Angel... I will always be with you. It doesn't matter if you can't see me or touch me... I'll make sure you can hear me and _feel_ me. Our souls are connected to each other and to all the worlds. This is what you've been born to do Alexis... if you choose it; it can be your destiny."

"I thought you didn't believe in destiny," she whispered finally, glancing away from the love she could never truly have.

"I believe we create our own," he agreed, keeping her in his sights in the fear that she would drift away too soon. "And this is what we've made together... a road that will connect the worlds with peace... a road built on our love, something untainted and pure..."

A deep gasp of pained air interrupted his sentence, but when she looked he simply had his hand over his heart in silent torment. "Alexis... that place can't happen if you let your fear rule you. If you stay here with me—in a selfish way, I'll be the happiest guy in the world. But... we've both learned how selfishness can destroy not only ourselves, but an entire world in its miserable wrath...Lex. We need to stand together, or the worlds will fall alone."

"You think that our love is selfish and dangerous?" she questioned, making contact once more. He cupped his own hand around the offered palm and pulled her forward, kissing her brow firmly and quickly.

"All love is," he murmured.

She said nothing because she could only agree. In the black chasms of despair, she lowered her head and pressed her brow against his, pretending to feel the warmth of his breath against her cheeks, the thundering beat of his heart against her palms. His eyelashes kissed her skin just below her eyes, and she was cold in his arms for the first time—and what she knew would be the last time.

"I don't care," she whispered finally, taking command and jerking him into her full embrace. The pressure of his arm was a soft kiss to her back, the texture of his shirt too familiar to make what was about to happen bearable.

"Neither do I," he murmured, letting the distressed tears fall down her cheeks, because this time they were the sadness that he had been searching for. Not the joyful waters of reunion and warmth, but the cold rain of truth, love, and goodbye. "Its also beautiful, heaven on earth I guess. Its just when we lose that sanctuary and are confronted with the real world..."

"Everything suddenly seems like hell," she finished. "And you find yourself terrified and more alone than you can remember being before." Her heart beat loudly against his chest as she drew closer, lips nearly touching. "But then the sun shines again, and that stupid guy ends up saving the life she thought was destroyed. Because she's not alone, because love... whatever happens to it, it keeps us together."

"And not even death can do us part."

It was so easy to get lost in each other's grip. To feel their presences so close, cheek to cheek, heart to heart, was unbelievably overwhelming in its simplicity. Finding a home in another's arm is the single most unsettling thing that one can do, and the most wonderful. But when the time comes for the wind to shake its support, for the lightning to strike the walls, for the fire to burn its memories to ashes...

Unspoken, the memories that they could never make dazzled their eyes with stinging agony. A small child running down their hallways, the sounds of friendly voices flaoting from the foyer, the putrid smell of smoke from the heavily abused kitchen, the rustle of sheets, the rays of sunlight falling between the curtain, the ruffled hair they would smooth down, the first glimpse of each other in the morning, raw and vulnerable, the smiles, and the glittering of wedding bands...

At this moment, they existed at the point beyond fear, beyond pain, beyond panic, love, hate, and every other color of emotion that had tied them down on Earth. Together... they were simple beyond it all, above and below at the same time, better and worse for it, naked in a steel clothed world of sorrow. They nearly choked on what they still did have: words.

_"I love you."_

_"Always."_

The thanks silent on her tightly closed lips, she stared into the eyes that were more familiar than the back of her hand. Kissed the tip of his nose. Looked around her shoulder towards the future.

The darkness she faced was impossibly large and destructive; she could see the monsters that teetered in and out of the shadows with clear eyes. Here and there, a glint of polished steel peaked out from clouds, warnings of danger in both the future and past. There was no life of glory and happiness there. This was the turning point in her life, the decision she was born to make. For a moment she was standing on the threshold of death with her beloved in her arms, asking the same question and wondering...

_... could something as fickle as teenage love weather against the laws of nature and death, could it reverse the wear of the time and the dust of oblivion that was poised to snatch him up far before what they believed was his time?_

_"I love you! Don't die, please! I love you!"_

_Nothing changed. _

She laughed softly to herself, turning to find his soulful gaze urging her forward. A single tear traced the right side of his face as he nodded and closed his eyes, smile tender and vulnerable in a way only she was allowed to see. He had given her the answer and more; he had given her eternity.

She turned around without a whisper of departure.

And walked away.

* * *

**Jesse POV**

Before we even caught a glimpse of the danger, it crashed head first into us. Some unspoken agreement flashed between Melody and I as her arms snatched the victim into the sanctuary I had occupied only minutes earlier. Her feral pink eyes glared towards the surf colliding in the distance as I yanked the two of them behind me in and activated my duel disk, effectively taking the place of the would-be murdered.

"I'm your opponent!" I shouted as loudly as I could, brandishing my first five cards with a flourish that was so similar, it was painful. A glint of yellow eyes snarled in my direction before fading entirely into the muddled gray backdrop, leaving me blind and nervous in its wake.

_What in tarnation? How could a person vanish into thin—?_

I cut myself off as abruptly as the snip of the Fates' shears. I knew how a person could do that.

"No! Don't! You'll be killed!" the girl in Melody's arm squealed, and I heard the sounds of a scuffle behind my turned back. "You don't understand! That monster is real, human! Get back!"

_Monster? Alright, it's not my opponent quite yet. But... where is that thing anyway? Do I have to fight it still? _

I scanned the area the same way Yubel had been taken to during our shared time in the dark world. Although s/he had been completely psychotic at the time, I was seriously finding all the little 'tips' and ravings s/he had put me through during our initial takeover helpful.

For example, keeping my feet firmly squared and my knees bent just so beneath me kept me from experiencing a sudden and painful death when the Duel Monster made its abrupt appearance.

As abrubtly as it had exploded, the night was silent again. The panicked city had stopped dialing for help, the police sirens had yet to flare into life, and the thin strip of grass ahead that touched the gravelly sand of the ocean was still without wind to move it. Everything was too...

A flash of burned silver warned me of the approaching doom, and I sprang to the side before my mind could even fully register what was happening. The screech of shattering metal deafened my already aching ears, and the scream that followed kicked my sorry butt into action.

_"Amethyst Cat!"_

She leapt into eager action, claws glinting in the thin glow of the unseen moon. With the grace only a predator could have, my friend collided with the strange blue warrior, engaging the battle between tooth and nail. Ugly pride reared up in me as she easily finished the weaker monster, leaving a tattered mess of holographic dust fading up into the sky I refused to see.

In the moment where I was too stunned to react, the sounds of a cursing opponent reach my ears. Pirouetting like a particularly bad dancer, I raised my duel disk to meet his challenge head on, ignoring the keening of our sort-of prisoner as Melody dragged her across the asphalt.

In the moonlight he was by no means an attractive fellow and I sensed that in the sun he would be a downright terrifying sight to behold. His gills flapped laboriously in the thin air like sacks of hanging, bloated skin, and the thin membrane between his webbed fingers was a sickly shade of purple. His teeth gnashed together with every wet breath he took, his slit nostrils distorted at the foreign taste in his mouth, and his eyes were far too bright a green to be natural.

"A huuuuman?" he gargled as he evaluated me. To my utter annoyance, the hairs on the back of my neck rose at the deep bass tone of his voice. I wasn't supposed to be the one who was afraid and weak in these fights! I had to protect Melody and the other girl from this duel!

"Surprise," I rebuked lamely, pointing my favorite pink cat in his direction. A throaty growl emitted lowly from the back of her throat and her fur puffed up in an intimidating fashion. Seemingly unconcerned he glowered at her and pondered aloud, "Sooooooo it was youuuuu whooooo destroyed my monster. That is surprising and amuuuuuusing... kekeke... but where has the person I was chasing disappeared off tooooooooooo?"

"I'm afraid that ain't any of your business!"

My declaration only made him laugh once more, "Kekeke! That is my business exactly foolish human! The Queen calls, I answer, and the target dies! Kekeke! A fine business indeed! Now step out of the way, boy, you are not my prey tonight!"

He made as if to walk straight past me and stalk through the city, obviously failing to see my threat at all. Well, then, I can't say that I didn't warn him. "Amethyst Cat has a special ability that allows her to half her attack points and attack directly!"

There we go, now I have his attention loud and clear. "What did you say boy?!"

"Read her claws! Go Amethyst! Direct Attack!"

I was going to enjoy this.

Little did I know, I was also going to regret this for the suddenly little time I had left.

* * *

**Hehehe... did you miss my evil?**

**(runs away)**


End file.
